This is a warning: I’m about as hot as Antares A! (Google it.) I’m a little put-off by a conversation with a colleague who emphatically proclaimed (at a well-attended gathering) that “innovation cannot be taught.” At the time (while nearly imploding on my inner self and maintaining cool and calm external self), I chose not to engage in a public verbal torch job. Instead, I reserved the right to post this flaming blog post!

As I have stated in previous postings, I believe that my exposure to technology and scientific practices is on par (or even slightly more advanced than that of the average sea lion). With that said, I cannot recall ever being formally taught anything about innovation. When the word was even mentioned, it was cast as a vague reference to doing something “unique.” That kind of thinking is rampant within our educational institutions and work environments. We are taught the fundamentals of science and the scientific methods to describe how and why things work, but, is that innovation? With each experiment, the proverbial ball is advanced, but does that constitute innovation? While many people in our global society may never see the inside of a high-tech laboratory or be as fortunate to wear the white lab smock that screams “Look at me! I’m the geek that you seek,” does that mean that they are excluded from contributing to innovation? I think not, but the opposite notion was conveyed in my colleague’s proclamation.

Formally (according to famed author Everett Rogers), “Innovation is an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other adoption unit.” Are you thinking what I’m thinking at this point? While this statement has been studied and taken as truth for over a half a century, let’s look at it in practical terms. An idea, is an idea. If no action is applied to make something of the idea, it remains an idea! Yes, I know. That is profound! Now, let’s take the idea and subject it to the scientific process by developing a question about its applicability to a business domain, for instance. In addition, let’s hypothesize that the successful implementation of the idea in that business domain could increase efficiencies by (let’s say) ten percent over current practices. What have we just done here? We have applied some level of energy to the idea and put it into motion. Now, in the ideal case, the hypothesis is proven to be true and we arrive at an understanding that if we implement the idea in the business domain, we can realize the stated efficiency gains. There is one thing left to do. Put the idea into practice by adopting it (in whatever form is suitable) into the business domain.

So, let’s take a look at innovation with our newly learned concepts. Using the geeky definition of innovation, we learned that if we just have an idea that is not acted upon, it will remain as an (unproductive) idea. The idea cannot be called an innovation unless it is adopted and put into practice and shows some advantage over the status quo. See!! Innovation can be taught!

Now that we know about how to turn ideas into innovations, how do we get to the point of having ideas that should be considered? What a great question. Ideas come in all forms and from a variety of perspectives. Having a background in science is not a prerequisite for having an innovative idea. You just have to be able to recognize a need when it is seen or heard! How many times have you heard someone utter the words like the following examples?

• “I just need a tool that does …”
• “Somebody should figure out how to …”
• “If I had a dime for every time that …”
• “Why is it that we can never …”

These, my friends, are the seedlings of great ideas. Given the proper treatment, they could become the next “Hot Pocket” or “Swiffer.” In short, good ideas arise from needs expressed by people who have legitimate problems and suitable solutions do not yet exist.  Such examples are fertile ground for people who are trained to pick up on these everyday statements and use them to formulate ideas that can lead to the next big innovation.

One of the biggest parts about innovation is that the idea (even if proven valuable by the scientific process) must overcome inertia. Inertia? Yes, inertia. Remember that lesson that Sir Isaac Newton learned as he sat unsuspectingly under an apple tree?  An object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an equal and opposite force. That is Newton’s Law. Okay, it’s the one we will use as our example. In business terms, if my company is really known for producing phone booths and someone tries to get me to invest in this new thing called a cellular phone (to which I have no knowledge), my first question is to ask: “How does this allow me to sell more phone booths?” As far as innovation goes, this is what we call a pivotal moment. So, while this exaggerated example embodies an element of truth, it is given to illustrate a broader point. That point is about convincing people that the idea is viable in order to get it to be adopted.

We can go even further to characterize an innovation using some very straightforward language. In order to understand if your idea may be considered an innovation, can you answer the following questions?

• Is it better than the status quo? – Can the idea be shown to provide some level of improvement over something that is currently in place? Do people see it as offering functionality or appeal that existing products offer?
• Does the idea fit my frame of reference? Does it fit my mental model of how an idea looks, feels, and operates in my line of business? Does it violate any of the established norms in my business domain?
• Is it hard to grasp? How easy is the idea to understand? Do I need to take formal training in order to make it work? It is so intuitive that when I pick it up, I instantly know how to use it?
• Can I test drive the idea in the form of a product? How does this idea compare to the existing methods used to perform the same (or similar) functions?
• What type of people find this product or idea useful? Does it live up to its billing? Are people pleasantly surprised by the usefulness of the idea?

These questions focus on characterizations of innovations. Formally, an innovation may be evaluated along the lines of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability. When ideas possess these characteristics, they stand a chance of being true innovations. The characteristics of innovations were discovered and documented over time in numerous books on the topic and have come to define how we should think about them, accordingly.

Are you beginning to see that part that is missing from the formal science education, now? We learned all of the formulas and the methodologies for testing and evaluating. We just never learned the psychology of convincing people (especially business people) that our ideas would work well and benefit them in their respective lines of business. This level of skill to influence companies to entertain the adoption of an idea to become more efficient or to launch a new type of product is a conversation best introduced by those with “people skills”. Now, I’m not saying that people with backgrounds in the sciences, cannot take on this role. I’ve seen it done, … twice in my career. In short, most of us are simply not equally as talented in the sciences and business. Closing such a business deal takes us far away from the simple virtues of the original idea and away from the technical conversations about form and function. The conversation leads to production costs, marketability and distribution channels. These are topics for a future blog post.

We began with the idea and discussed its treatment along a path of science and then through business. Along this continuum, the perspectives applied to the idea changed dramatically. Does the idea have scientific merit? Check! Does the idea appear to have a place in addressing a business need? Check! Can we make it cheaply and mass produce it? Check! Will people buy it and will their lives be better for having done so? Check? We could on forever with checking off the idea as it matures into something that is recognizable and readily available for general consumption at the end. The point is that innovations require far more work than merely plopping an idea on the table in front of a curious crowd and then wandering away.

Most “great ideas” die quick and pre-mature deaths because we admire them too much without every acting on them. Sometimes we are amazed to see our ideas realized as fully successful products on the market. We walk down the aisles of our favorite retail shop and pick up a product and look with angry amazement that someone “stole” your idea! Really? I think that people would be shocked to find that [the same] ideas occur to a lot of people all the time. Only the ideas that get energy behind them every see the light of day.

Please remember that when someone says that innovation cannot be taught, just remind yourself that EVERYTHING you know as a human being has been taught to you! Of course, innovation can be taught. It can be taught to anyone, regardless of their respective backgrounds. If we learn this lesson early in our formative years, we will be far more open-minded and productive later in our respective careers. At this point, you can re-hang your fire extinguishers and call everyone back into the building.